The caring side

Michael Altmann – REMEO® Centre Manager

Michael’s passion lies in caring for others – a quality which has fuelled his impressive career at Linde. Read his story…

There are moments in Michael Altmann’s professional life that he would not trade for anything. Such as one day in summer 2015. Altmann and his team threw a party for the residents at the REMEO® centre for long-term mechanical ventilation in Mahlow. To make the experience truly special, he had booked a live band. “We have an elderly patient, he is ventilated and can hardly walk,” says Altmann. “But when the band started to play an old love song, he suddenly got up, led his wife to the dancefloor and they danced like a young couple!” What nobody had known: it was “their song.” The one they once fell in love to. “That,” says Altmann, “brought tears to my eyes.”

A task to be proud of

Altmann and his team bridge the gap between a hospital’s intensive care unit and a patient’s home. It’s an immense commitment: patients often stay for 200 days or more. Altmann heads a leadership team of three which oversees personnel, facility management – and, of course, the treatment of patients and their families. “The things we do can mean the world to the people in our care,” he says. With 41 beds and 54 employees – he can be responsible for up to 95 people!

Funny to think his life could have taken a completely different turn. “When I was young, I never wanted to be in healthcare,” remembers Altmann. “I couldn’t even stand the smell of disinfectants.” Instead, he dreamed of a job in advertising. But when his place of apprenticeship went bankrupt, Altmann´s mother (a nurse) suggested: "Why don´t you try healthcare?"

“I wanted a position where I could make decisions, where I could really make a difference. And most of all, I wanted to learn.”

“I have learned that the gratefulness of a person in need of care is something unique. Something you don’t experience anywhere else.”

Making changes

Altmann was 23 when he got a job in homebased-care for a bedridden patient suffering from ALS. He describes it as an experience that initiated him into adulthood. Not one to simply go with the flow, he quickly decided he wanted to take on more. “I was no longer satisfied with being a nurse. I had seen so many things that went wrong, so many processes that could be optimized. I wanted a position where I could make decisions, where I could really make a difference. And most of all, I wanted to learn.” It was only a matter of time until he successfully completed a course in nursing management and – soon after - the advanced course to become nursing home director.

“It wasn’t only my own impulse, though”, he admits, smiling. “From the moment I started working at Linde in 2011, I was encouraged and pushed to progress.” It’s something he is truly grateful for: “I didn’t think I had it in me to become a Centre Manager – and I was awestruck when they offered me to lead the centre in Mahlow. After all it’s the REMEO® mothership – the first and largest in Germany!” But after some hesitation, he accepted, and has since gone from strength to strength.

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